BigCommerce and Instagram Expand Shopping Capabilities to International Customers

BigCommerce merchants in select countries can now create shopping posts, enabling 800 million Instagram shoppers to purchase without leaving the Instagram experience

AUSTIN, Texas – March 20, 2018 – BigCommerce, the leading ecommerce platform for established and fast-growth brands, has expanded its collaboration with Instagram to make shopping on Instagram available to merchants beyond the United States to also include Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Beginning today, BigCommerce merchants in supported geographies will gain access to new organic features designed to enhance their business presence on Instagram by seamlessly integrating product discovery and making it easier for the more than 800 million Instagram users to discover and learn more about products.

More than 500 million Instagram people are active on Instagram every day, and 60 percent of users say they discover new products on Instagram. Through shopping on Instagram, BigCommerce merchants can tag products in Instagram posts, making contextual information such as pricing and product descriptions accessible with a single tap, enriching product discovery without leaving the Instagram experience. When ready to make a purchase, product tags quickly and conveniently direct shoppers to the associated product page on the merchants’ BigCommerce store, streamlining the checkout experience.

"While Instagram has given us the ability to connect our brand personality with our audience, social media conversation is most effective for businesses when based around product; we’ve always felt the experience would be stronger with an added commerce element," said Rohan Moore, managing director at Olive Clothing Limited. "Shopping on Instagram offers us an elegant and intuitive way to bridge the gap between creative content and a shoppable catalogue, allowing us to increasingly position our merchandising in the social space. In an e-commerce market crowded with digital solutions promising high returns, this feature stands out as a uniquely powerful tool to leverage one of our brand’s most valuable assets.”

In October 2017, BigCommerce announced its participation in enabling shopping on Instagram for its US merchants as part of a limited beta. Today’s announcement marks the first time businesses outside of the US will gain access to shopping on Instagram. In just five months, BigCommerce merchants using shopping on Instagram have seen a 50 percent increase in Instagram referral traffic to their site, further demonstrating the social channel’s ability to support a more engaging shopping experience.

“For commerce to reach its full potential on social media, merchants need access to tools that allow them to engage in a way that feels authentic to customers’ current channel experience,” said Jimmy Duvall, chief product officer at BigCommerce. “Shopping on Instagram is the first example of successful social commerce in action, as it gives merchants a clear way to measure the impact social engagement has on sales while simultaneously providing consumers a more concrete reason to continue interacting with that brand.”

Shopping on Instagram is now available to merchants located in nine countries worldwide, including the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. For more information and eligibility requirements, visit: http://www.bigcommerce.com/instagram.